Bunny crackers are not just a tasty snack. They are also great for some edible Easter math and fun with numbers, plus they help with kindergarten readiness. Some kids may only want to count out a few. When asked, Little Sister always wants 3 of anything, then when that’s gone, 3 more. Big Sister loves stories, so here are some math stories. I think that’s such a much better name than “problems”.
Do you remember being at school and working on math problems like: If William has 3 Easter eggs and gives one to Jennifer, how many does he have left? Or, if Ava has 4 eggs in her basket and finds 3 more how many are in her basket now? Depending on the holiday, the items to count were different but the structure was the same.
Figuring out these sorts of math ideas can be challenging for some kids. Kids need lots of real experiences with numbers to develop the brain connections that they will use later. Even a snack with bunny and fishy crackers can be a math opportunity.
Put some bunny and fish crackers on a small plate. You can ask a simple question such as “Are there more bunnies or are there more fishies?” It may be quite apparent, but one way to check is to put one bunny with one fishy. This is called one-to-one matching and it’s an important concept in math. After all, this is the basis of equal.
After matching, it’s okay to eat the extras. As your child is able, you can tell some stories such as: Today, the bunnies came out to play. Here’s 2, and 2 more come hop, hop, hopping along. Wow, look at those bunnies. How many bunnies are playing? Try a story with the fish. 5 fish are swimming, and 1 swam right into my mouth. Oh, look at that. There aren’t 5 left anymore.
Some kids will want to make up their own stories. The answers will not necessarily be correct, but the idea is that kids are playing with numbers. While it’s obvious to us, kids are discovering that numbers change after an action. In this case, the action is eating them up. Can you and your child have some fun with numbers?